【News】 Joint verification program of HAL Lumbar Type for the elderly expands to nursing care facilities in Kanagawa prefecture

CYBERDYNE Inc. (the “Company”) and its subsidiary Shonan Robocare Center, in collaboration with Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa University of Human Science, and Keio University, have started a research project to implement a nursing care prevention program using HAL Lumbar Type in nursing care facilities. Details are set forth below.

【Background of the research】
The Company and Shonan Robocare Center have been participating in the “Future Map to Mibyo (ME-RISE) Project,” a project to contribute to the wellness of the people of Kanagawa Prefecture. First, in 2019, the Company collaborated with Keio University and Kanagawa Cancer Center at Shonan Robocare Center to plan a pilot study. In this study, 22 elderly (average age 72.6 years) diagnosed as frailty or pre-frailty due to physical and mental decline underwent a program utilizing HAL Lumbar Type. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the program and the improvement of the participants’ mobility. The pilot study was followed by a randomized controlled trial at the Shonan Robocare Center starting in 2020 with 80 elderly patients, and this trial is still in progress.
In the newly initiated research program announced in this news release, the HAL Lumbar Type program will be tested at the nursing care center to investigate usage in facilities outside Shonan Robocare Center.

【Outline of the research】
・Venue：
Seirei Social Welfare Community “Fujisawa Garden of Eden”
・ Targets：
Seniors 65 years old or older below Care Requirement Level 2. Participants must be residents of the venue and must be willing to take part in this research program actively (a maximum of 20 people. Must agree to take part in the program)
・ Program:
A training program to prevent falls and reduce the load using the parallel bars, etc., while wearing the HAL Lumbar Type. Ninety minutes per session (including rest and preparation for wearing), twice a week for five weeks (= ten sessions). Four groups of 5 persons will be formed to ensure safety control.
・ Intervention survey before and after:
Questionnaire responses, blood pressure and height measurements, body composition measurement (InBody), balance function evaluation, stride length and speed with 10m walk, gait rate evaluation, five times chair rise test, unwellness index measurement, cognitive function evaluation using iPad, standing age measurement, activity measurement, etc.
・Implementation period:
September 2022 – March 2027

(参考)
(Kanagawa prefecture) Research Begins on Robotic Program to Improve Prevention of Prevalence of Diseases Using “Prevalence Indicators” at Elderly Facilities (October 4, 2022)
https://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/docs/bs5/prs/r041004.html(available in Japanese only)
(Prefectural University of Health and Welfare) First Robot-Based Care Prevention Program at a Senior Citizen Facility (October 4, 2022)
https://www.shi.kuhs.ac.jp/news/details_01737.html (available in Japanese only)
【News】announcement on developing a program for preventive care with Kanagawa prefecture (November 16, 2020)
https://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/company/PressReleases_detail.html?id=10097